


words can wait (until some other day)

by FireLorde



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), De-Serumed Steve Rogers, Endgame Fix-It, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Other, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Reunions, don't ask why, eat my foot Russos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 02:24:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18983287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireLorde/pseuds/FireLorde
Summary: Unexpected things arrive in smaller packages;a heart comes home to roost.





	words can wait (until some other day)

**Author's Note:**

> YOU WANTED A BREAK FROM THE PORN? HERE Y'ALL GO!!!  
> okay not to be a pressed stovebanquet but it's been a MONTH since endgame was released and i've been havin' this idea bounce around in my brain so i wrote it an hour ago. unbetaed as fuck bc none of my betas are on speed dial rip!

The apartment is empty, save for a man washing the dishes, his dark hair clinging to his forehead with sweat. On the rickety, worn old record player, Sinatra sings, sounding distant as the man’s thoughts. He sets a sudsy plate down in the cracked, mildewed sink, and towels off his hands, heading to the pathetic couch sitting in the place he calls a living room.

 

He isn’t expecting the knock at the door, the turn of a key.

 

He’s expecting some thief, or Mr. O’Malley, his old landlord. He's not expecting a short, lanky blonde with big, moonstruck blue eyes, wearing some sort of jumpsuit that seems to be a bit too big on him. There’s nothing that’s ever seemed improbable- he’s a man of science, a man of reason,  _for Pete’s sake_.

 

But when he sees that face- the face of a man who could never come down from the walls of his mind, leave his heart unimpressed upon, the face of a small, pale, asthmatic Steve Rogers in some clown costume, his hair tousled, a wide smile on his small, narrow face.

 

“Buck,” Steve breathes, and Bucky bolts from the couch to see if any of it is real. He’d know that face anywhere- those sharp cheekbones, those beautiful pointed shoulders.

 

“Where have you been?” Bucky asks, and buries Steve in a thousand embraces.

 

“The future,” Steve says, and Bucky can’t tell if he’s serious, but laughs nonetheless- something Steve joins him in.

 

“Well, damn, Rogers. You look like you gotta lot of explaining to do,” Bucky quips, and Steve watches him recline against the wall, that trademark sideways smile on his face.

 

“I’ll tell you about the 21st century later, I swear,” promises Steve.

 

And he does.

 

* * *

  
  
The costume is forgotten, traded in for a plain white button-up and green slacks, his nicest black suspenders strapped onto the old belt he wears. Bucky has his hands on his waist, and Steve presses his charcoal-stained fingers to Bucky’s collar, Bucky laughing as he notices a smudge on his already-dirty shirt.

 

Captain America- or some semblance of him- is gone, lost to the ages. _In the ice_ , Steve figures, _to come out at a later date_ . Though, Steve does _still_ get that he looks like Cap while he’s picking up the groceries.

 

Bucky never fell from that train in the Alps, was honorably discharged after being tortured and poked and prodded at by HYDRA. Got himself back into that shoddy little Brooklyn hovel he called an apartment, the place he and Steve raised each other.

 

Kitty Kallen and Harry James seem to play along with the sounds of Brooklyn in 1947, a chaotic and charming chorus of car horns and city bustle, and Steve rests his head on Bucky’s shoulder.

 

Bucky runs a calloused hand over Steve’s cheek, nudging Steve’s nose until their lips meet in a slow, sweet kiss- almost as if they’re making up for years of lost time.

 

_So, kiss me once, and kiss me twice, and kiss me once again…_

 

And Steve is home.

 

_It’s been a long, long time._

**Author's Note:**

> markus and mcfeely, if you are reading this, you're both cowards.  
> hit that kudos if your fight-or-flight is activated when you hear "it's been a long, long time" start up. thanks russos.


End file.
